


Masks

by Taseric



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Coldridge Prison (Dishonored), Dunwall (Dishonored), Gen, High Chaos (Dishonored), Self-Hatred, Spoilers, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:48:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28884147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taseric/pseuds/Taseric
Summary: Seeing the betrayal in their eyes as he slit their throats chilled him to the bone; If only he could have spared them the sight of his own face before ending their lives. If given the choice, Corvo would have hidden his face from every damned man in Dunwall.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

Corvo never stopped thinking about masks.

He once wished for something, _anything_ to cover his face as Burrows slashed and burned his body in the interrogation room of Coldridge Prison. Anything to separate him from the men who took Jessamine from Dunwall. From him.   
The hardest part of his six month stay at Coldridge was having to look upon their faces every day. Their presence was the greatest torture they were able to bear upon him.

\-----

The most difficult part of his escape was looking at the guard’s faces as they fell to his stolen blade. It took a special level of cruelty to work in Coldridge, but Corvo knew these men, trained with most. 

The guards knew nothing of the Lord Regent’s insidious plans, only that they were tasked with guarding the beloved Empress’s bodyguard turned murderer. Corvo would later tell himself that they would have died regardless once the Lord Regent discovered their failure, but not until he had already left Coldridge in the dust.

Seeing the betrayal in their eyes as he slit their throats chilled him to the bone; If only he could have spared them the sight of his own face before ending their lives. If given the choice, Corvo would have hidden his face from every damned man in Dunwall. 

\-----

His wish came true not a day later. A brilliant (some would say insane) man named Piero constructed him a skull of scrap metal and discarded fabrics.

“You’re a wanted man so everyone in the city will know your face but this mask will mean terror to them.” Piero had told him. Corvo pondered if it would truly be more terrifying to see the mask of an assassin instead of his own face. The face that the entire Empire has been told to hate; Corvo could not find a reason why they shouldn’t.

\-----

Corvo’s biggest regret is that mask. He wanted Campbell to see exactly what was going to happen to him. As Corvo shot a sleep dart into the captain’s neck, and a sharpened bolt into the high overseer’s head, he instantly knew he had made a mistake. Corvo was forced to look upon that despicable man’s face for six months with nothing but his love’s dying words to drive him, it was not fair that Campbell got the courtesy of ignorance.

Corvo had always wondered why the Overseers wore masks. If they’re so hell-bent on telling the world how to act, surely they would not be afraid to face it? A fact that Corvo later picked up on is that Overseers never wore masks if they had power. Despite spending years alongside the man, he had yet to see Campbell wear one. He was lucky this was the case, as it may have saved the traitor's life.

Overseers were just as innocent has the guards he killed on his way in, but Corvo knew they would kill him without a second thought if saw the mark on his hand, so he wept no tears for these men like he later would for the City Watch.   
If not for Overseer blood that dripped down his own mask, he would have forgotten that they were flesh and blood. Corvo never knew how they felt when they die. Were they accepting of death as a religious man should be? Were they enraged that an agent of the Outsider bested them? Corvo didn’t waste time figuring it out.


	2. Interlude - Samuel Beechworth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samuel never wore a mask, but he never needed to. Not once could Corvo tell what Samuel thought of him, not even the beating heart in his pocket could reveal what was under the metaphorical mask. Corvo would have been amused if not for the tragedy in the situation.

Samuel never wore a mask, but he never needed to. Not once could Corvo tell what Samuel thought of him, not even the beating heart in his pocket could reveal what was under the metaphorical mask. Corvo would have been amused if not for the tragedy in the situation.

The only time Samuel ever showed emotion was during their trip from the Golden Cat, when telling stories of the ocean to Emily. Corvo could see the weariness in his eyes, the forced nature of his smiles, it was clear he found no joy in his past. 

Corvo wondered if he would be able to do the same. Would Emily ask about how he escaped jail? How he had assassinated Campbell and the Pendletons? Would he be forced to wear that same smile like a mask as he told Emily the story of how she was returned to the throne? Corvo dreaded spending time around Emily, for fear she would break his mask.

The only time Corvo ever knew what Samuel really thought of him was when they arrived at the Lord Regent’s new Lighthouse. Samuel had given him neutral advice, like he always had. Samuel’s words, that usually would give him comfort during long nights away from the Hound Pits Pub, turned against him then. 

“And you Corvo… You could be the worst of us.”

As Samuel shot that pistol into the sky, practically begging for his death, Corvo could do nothing but watch. He realised that Emily was all that was stopping Samuel from shooting him in the back before, but as the Lighthouse had come into view, they both realised that Corvo would never reach the top without blood staining his clothes, whether it be the Havelock’s or his own.

And yet, Corvo could not condemn Samuel. Corvo knew, from the moment Burrows decided to gloat in his face, that he would not be able to restrain himself once out of his cell. He knew exactly what type of man he would become, but he could not stop the self-loathing thoughts or the nightmares of Overseer music and red-hot iron rods being forced onto his skin. Samuel was right, and that’s why he let him go in the end.

He hoped he would never have to feel those eyes upon him again.

**Author's Note:**

> First work in like 4 years and I re-read it once so there are probably some errors in there.
> 
> Each chapter will focus on around two missions, and there'll be interludes for certain characters cus they don't really fit chronologically.


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